Summer rains in China destroy supply chains; affecting the production of PPE

On Friday, large parts of China were going through the worst flood in decades, completely destroying the supply chains. These supply chains included personal protective equipment (PPE), which is important in the fight against the novel coronavirus. Red alerts were declared in the central city of Wuhan and provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi and Zhejiang due to heavy rains.

Wuhan, which was the hotspot of the novel coronavirus, is where residents were warned to take precautions as water level rapidly increased. Floods have become a part of the summer rainy season in China. However, the impact of disruption is being felt further this time due to the destruction of supply chains for various items, including PPE.

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Floods hampering economy 

Michael Einhorn, president of Dealmed, a US medical supply distributor said, the floods are just creating another major roadblock here, in terms of PPE getting into the United States. He added, the product cannot come out for another week, which is again a very long time in the business.

West of Wuhan is Xiantao, which is China’s biggest manufacturer of nonwoven fabrics used in PPE production. However, with unstoppable rains, the misery seems inevitable. The Poyang lake in Jiangxi province is 2.5 metres higher than its warning level. It has expanded by more than 2,000 square kilometres during this flood season. 

Read: Floods hit southern China

In the east, the Tai lake near Shanghai has also declared a red alert after its water level rose by a metre. Economic activity like construction and steel and cement demand in other parts of China, has also been severely affected by flooding.

Analyst Morgan Stanly said, "we estimate recent floods in Yangtze River regions could lead to a gross drag of 0.4-0.8 percentage points on third-quarter GDP growth."

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